Lady Lions remain unblemished in the PSUAC with road victory at Penn State Mont Alto

Mont Alto, Pa. - Stong second half performances from senior Alexis Daly (New Albany, Pa.), sophomore Kamryn Dodd (Stevensville, Md.) and freshman McKenzie Prutsman (Jasper, Ny.) secured Penn State Hazleton's (14-2, 7-0 PSUAC) road victory at Penn State Mont Alto (6-11, 1-6 PSUAC) by a score of 83-55. The trio combined for 35 second half points as the no. 2 ranked Lady Lions tallied their seventh consecutive win in the Penn State University Athletic Conference to maintain their unblemished conference record.

1st Half

Penn State Hazleton jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead but 11 straight misses in the final four minutes of the first quarter allowed Mont Alto to nab a slim 11-10 at the horn following a three point basket by Bri Crossan. Mont Alto extended their lead to as many as three points, giving hope to the hometown faithful, until the Lady Lions closed the period on 14-6 run to carry a six point lead into the break. Six players netted baskets in the quarter with Hazleton dominating the glass to the tune of 14 rebounds to just five for Mont Alto as the Lady Lions reclaimed command of the game.

2nd Half

Mont Alto continued to give the unbeaten Lady Lions a scare in the second half, cutting the Hazleton lead to just three with 6:11 on the clock in the third quarter. Buckets from sophomore Allison Vincent, junior Stephanie Guevara, Prutsman and Dodd over the next two minutes of play quickly gave Hazleton the cushion it was seeking and Hazleton continued on a 15-3 run over a five minute stretch of play. Dodd and Prutsman combined for 17 third quarter points with Daly supplying the blue collar work, securing five rebounds and a pair of steals as Hazleton expanded their lead to 17 points by the end of the third period.

Hazleton continued it's dominant play in the final period to put the game out of reach. Alexis Daly caught fire, going five for five from the field to net 12 fourth quarter points. After scoring just 29 points in the first half, the Lady Lions 27 point efforts in both the third and fourth quarters spelled defeat for the home team Mont Alto. As a team, Hazleton shot 54 percent from the field in the second half combined with a 28-10 margin of success on the glass to earn their seventh PSUAC victory.

Top Performers

Mont Alto's lone scorer in double figures was Alicia Detwiler who tallied 10 points on the night, with two baskets coming from long distance. Samiyah Williams and Bri Crossan finished with nine points each in the losing effort.

Four Lady Lions reached double figures in the conference road win. Sophomore Jacqlyn Siva-Harrison (South Brunsick, Nj.) registered 11 points and seven rebounds, her fourth double-digit performance of the season. McKenzie Prutsman netted 12 points on the evening with teammate Kamryn Dodd adding 13 points and nine rebounds. Alexis Daly led all scorers on the night with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Daly's 22 points are a season high for the senior forward.

Next Up

The Lady Lions face what may be some of their toughest tests of the season this upcoming weekend. Hazleton travels south to square off with Penn State Brandywine on Friday, January 29 at 6:00 p.m., followed by a quick turnaround to meet second place Penn State Lehigh Valley on Saturday night in Stabler Arena at Lehigh University for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.